Emily Bell, the Guardian's head of digital everything, writes about managing an online storm-in-a-teacup and sums it up by saying that, "A little blog abuse is worth it for a lot of discourse." It's a statement that reminds me of open-source guru Eric S Raymond's quote in this short video: "The startling thing is that trading away all the supposed advantages of conventional closed development for the single advantage of massive independent peer review actually seems to win and get you good results." In my consulting work, it can be quite difficult for clients to understand why they should open up their communications systems. While the potential benefits can appear interesting, the risks can seem alarming. For instance, where's the upside in opening up a forum where people may pick a row? In reality such fracas are unusual and can be seen as the turbulence that must be dealt with to benefit from open communications forums. And the odd skirmish can even be positive - allowing strongly held opinions to be aired - frequently in interesting, educational ways. But starting out by trying to avoid all such turbulence can leave you in danger of never leaving the ground at all. The best approach is to prepare well, find an easy breeze and take a short trip. And when the turbulence crops up, keep your eye on the horizon.
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A real life analogue of 'never leaving the ground at all' might be the Bumble Bee which, according to recent analysis, really wouldn't leave the ground without generating turbulence as it flaps its wings. I suspect there are a host of other analogues that require the breakdown of linearity to work.
Posted by: Chris Pearse | February 19, 2008 at 10:58 AM
I'm guessing that "picking a row" means debate?
Posted by: Ned | February 25, 2008 at 11:52 PM
Thanks Ned, when does a debate become a row?
Posted by: James Cherkoff | February 26, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Hey, nice flying metaphors: "turbulence ... never leaving the ground .. an easy breeze .. a short trip... keep your eye on the horizon. It made me want to go on holiday!
Posted by: kevin | February 28, 2008 at 03:47 PM
Thanks Kevin, my interest in turbulence is explained here: http://tinyurl.com/2et8tl
Posted by: James Cherkoff | February 28, 2008 at 04:02 PM